The Fire Escape
by DuncneyHelpsMeFunction
Summary: Duncan is such a pain. He always gets on my nerves. You think he's annoying? Try living with him. DxC! Please R&R!


The car door bursts open, and the cold crisp air comes into contact with my skin. The car horns of Manhattan beep into the surroundings of the bustling city. The sun isn't out yet, and when my vision comes back fully, the glowing numbers of the car radio glow, 6:43 am.

So we've finally arrived.

"Courtney, sweetie, we're here." My mother whispers and I rub my eyes.

I sigh and reach under the seat for my backpack. Once I grab a hold of the strap, I sling it over my shoulder and step out of the car. My legs have been inactive for a good ten hours, so my knees buckle as I get used to standing up.

My mother brought me to Manhattan, New York for some of the stupidest reasons. My father recently was transferred to Afghanistan, and was KIA.

Killed in action.

My mother broke down. She ignored everyone, even me, for the longest time. Each day felt like a year to me, and I cried endlessly. My dad was my best friend, he was one of the only people that understood me. Mother is a different story. I mean, I love her, but she was always at work. Nobody could ever replace my dad.

With my father's death, my mother couldn't stand being in a small town in Missouri. Every surrounding reminded me of my dad, even the people. She was depressed for almost a year, and I can't say she has gotten over it. Then, she brought us here. Manhattan.

I look up at the foggy sky and see the brick apartment building on the corner of the street. Cold winds blow in my direction, and I shiver as my skin grows tiny goosebumps. My nose feels like an icicle, and I wipe my sweater sleeve over it to warm it up.

"Here," Mother hands me a metallic key, "It's apartment B4. Go on up and check it out, I'll bring up the stuff." She smiles, and I squeeze the key in the palm of my hand.

"Okay." I nod. We didn't have much things. I had my clothes in my backpack, and my mom has her luggage and a couple boxes. I guess I could come down later.

B4. That's probably the second floor. There better be an elevator, I'm way too tired to climb stairs.

As I cautiously walk towards the front entrance, it seems to want some kind of PIN number to let me in. I softly press the door, and it willingly opens. So there is no PIN.

The dark hallway leads to a flight of stairs, but I spot an elevator entrance and I quickly walk to it. The button glows a dim, yellow light and once I press it, the door slides open.

"B4, B4..." I whisper to myself and push a strand of hair out of my eyes.

When I step inside the elevator, I push the ' B ' button and the rusty elevator starts to move up. I tap my foot on the floor and look around the tiny space, and pray that this old crap won't break down on me.

As the door slowly opens, I feel a small moment of relief and I tiptoe down the dim lighted hallway.

B1, B2, B3...

I stop in front of my apartment and stare at the plain beige door. I take a deep breath and slowly jiggle the key into the keyhole. Once I turn the key and twist the doorknob, I pee my head into the apartment and flip the switch that was on the side of the door, thinking it would turn the lights on. Luckily, it does, and I squeeze my backpack strap.

The apartment is totally empty and plain, but the cars are still faintly heard from the outside. I walk to the outside window and find a fire escape which leads to the apartment above me and beyond.

"How unsafe,' I cringe. "I better remind myself to lock this window at night."

Curiously climbing out of the window, I sit on the burgundy, metallic staircase and push the obnoxious strand of hair behind my ear once again. I miss Missouri so much. I had lots of friends, was on the championship soccer team, and had the perfect house. Now I live in an old apartment, and all I smell is car exhaust and grease from the McDonald's across the street.

I position my backpack on my knees and zip open the zipper to find my cellphone. Once I find it, I quickly unlock it and check if I had gotten any texts while I was sleeping. No new messages. Oh well.

"Little lonely, sweetheart?" A voice above says, and I jump.

"W-what?" I look up and see a boy about my age with a bright green mohawk smirks down at me and my cheeks heat up. His face was full of piercings and his cold, blue eyes glow in the foggy, morning light.

"You new here?" He slowly walks down the staircase and sits down in front of me.

"Um..." I tense up and pause, "Yeah, I am." What kind of person wakes up at 7 am on a weekend?

"Ah... This apartment's been vacant for so long. Thank god someone came along." He smiles and raises his eyebrows at me.

"Okay."

"What's your name, beautiful?"

"Courtney Sanchez. Can you go now, my mom is probably on her way up." I look inside the apartment. My mother doesn't approve that I date boys yet, even though I'm already sixteen. I really don't want to see her reaction if she sees me with one.

"My name's Duncan, thanks so much for asking," He sarcastically says. "Hmm...I don't know. It's pretty early and I have no one to talk to."

"Just...go!" I say harshly. Duncan puts his hands up in the air and starts walking up the stairs again.

"Talk to you later, dollface." He sings

Great, I have an annoying guy living above me, and he has almost all access into my apartment. This is going to be a long night.


End file.
